Sports in The Dominion Post

This article appeared in the Dominion Post Newspaper on December 30, 2003.
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MHS girls roll, boys win ugly

Both in tourney finals

Ian Benson/The Dominion Post

MHS's Junele Lewis (left), Brittany Drake (22) and Adrian Hagood swarm a Laurel Highlands opponent in a battle for a rebound.

Today's schedule

Girls

* Laurel Highlands vs. East Fairmont, 3:15 p.m.

* Morgantown vs. Chartiers Valley, 6:45 p.m.

Boys

* Athleton (Md.) vs. Wheeling Park, 5 p.m.

* Morgantown vs. South Charleston, 8:30 p.m.

BY JUSTIN JACKSON

The Dominion Post

Morgantown High's boys' and girls' basketball teams both cruised in their first-round games Monday, at the Mohigan Coaches Against Cancer Tournament.

The No. 4 MHS boys survived an ugly performance that included an off night shooting for a 68-50 victory against Athleton (Columbia, Md.) High, 68-50.

The No. 2-ranked MHS girls had little trouble in getting past Laurel Highlands (Uniontown, Pa.), 84-37.

Both teams advanced to today's championship action. The MHS boys (3-0) will play No. 5-ranked South Charleston, while the girls (7-0) will play Chartiers Valley (Bridgeville, Pa.).

The MHS boys fell behind early, but came back to take a 19-15 lead at the end of the first quarter and never trailed again. Still, the Mohigans connected on only six 3-pointers and Kameron Law was held to five points, his lowest output of the season.

"This reminded me a lot of the Preston game," MHS boys' coach Tom Yester said. "This wasn't pretty by any means. We didn't shoot the ball well and we didn't move the ball well.

"We had some guys who had some off nights. I didn't think we played with a lot of intensity and we didn't get a whole lot of production down low."

Chris Carey, who is becoming one of Morgantown's most consistent players, scored 20 points, but bruised his hip with 5:27 remaining in the third quarter, when he went diving into the stands for a loose ball. Carey returned to the game minutes later, but played the rest of the game with a slight limp.

"You certainly can't question the heart of Chris Carey," Yester said. "That kid plays as hard as a kid can play sometimes. At times tonight, Chris was the only one that was active for us. He got himself to the foul line 12 times, which is by far more tha* anybody else did."

Tyler Benson chipped in 19 points, his highest point total of the season, but his 3-point range was slightly off.

"He hit two of them tonight and that's a bad night for him," Yester said. "We've just got to get some guys going. We've definitely got to get Kameron going.

"Kameron has to quit depending on the outside shot and take the ball to the basket more. He took only seven shots tonight, but we need him to be taking about 15. He's got to become a little more selfish."

John Oliver came off the bench and added 11 points for the Mohigans, who will definitely have their hands full with South Charleston (4-0) today. The Black Eagles had three players score more than 20 points each in a 100-60 victory over Wheeling Park.

For the MHS girls, four players were in double figures and the starters sat out the fourth quarter, which is becoming the norm for this team.

"It becomes a worry, because sooner or later they're going to have to play four quarters and you begin to wonder if they'll be ready for it when it happens," MHS girls' coach Allan Collins said. "They're also missing out on some conditioning and a chance to play with each other."

Keri Pryor scored 16 points and Rebecca Bonasso and Lisa Lovett each had her best game of the season by scoring 15 points apiece. Joanna Joseph added 12 points, all in the first half.

The Mohigans were hot behind the 3-point line, with Bonasso hitting five 3-pointers and MHS 11 for the game.

"It was great to see Lisa Lovett have a breakout game," Collins said. "Rebecca, I think, is starting to come into her own offensively. I think she's becoming more comfortable."


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